Christmas day rules, presents in the morning or after dinner?

Stocking presents first thing in bed with the kids, then one or two proper presents in the morning after breakfast, (smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, champagne – naturally) then majority of presents formally opened after lunch at about 4pm round a roaring fire and through a port tinted haze.

Presents from santa get opened pre breakfast, presents from everyone else (the ones under the tree) get opened after the queen’s speech. However, seeing as Santa only comes to those under 18, so as the eldest of 3 (10 years difference between my youngest sis and I) I have to sit and watch presents being opened, waiting for a grandmother to let us all know what shes been up to the last year. This has been going on for the last 9 years.

Utterly ridiculous.

Memorytastic thread this :). Like many here I had a different upbringing from leffegirl with everything largely done and dusted before 9 (at least in my much diminished memory). Now the kids find stockings at the end of their beds but both rush up to ours to scatter paper and small boxes everywhere. Then down for breakfast (Baileys coffee sounds like an excellent new tradition), church and then back for a leisurely present opening before we finally give in and cook. Brisk walks can wait for another day

edit: add ‘smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, champagne – naturally’ to the Baileys coffee 🙂 – thanks

If you open all of your presents in one go in the morning then surely there is nothing else to do all day apart from gorge yourself and watch TV?

You say this like it is a bad thing

Ex did the regimented approach and it makes sense as a grown up

As a child no force of nature was stopping me from just opening stuff in a frenzy of excitement.

In my parents house, it was stockings are fair game whenever you wake up, then it would be a several hour wait for the parents to get up. Then breakfast, no presents until kitchen is cleared.

Open presents, it tends to be a free for all so no one really sees what everyone else gets, (my in laws all get a present each and then open one at a time which is much better and means it lasts longer than 15 minutes) then once the presents are opened we would get left to amuse ourselves/complain the others had better presents whilst Christmas dinner was prepped 🙂

We always opened the presents as soon as everyone was up.

My wifes family are as bonkers as your other half. For example the kids can’t open the presents from her family unless they are there too. That means if we don’t see them on Christmas Day they have to wait days until we see them so that they can watch the kids open them! What on earth is that all about.

If we spend Christmas Day with her family then we don’t open the presents from her family until after dinner (although I insist the kids can open the presents from us and my family as soon as we are up). Otherwise it’s almost like the waterboarding version of Christmas.

I remember one year my Dad stopping half down the stairs to tie his laces (we weren’t allowed to go downstairs in front of him in case Santa hadn’t finished). When me and my brother realised he didn’t even have shoes on I reckon we were this close to pushing him down the rest.

Presents in the afternoon is mental!

That said, my old man was a legend and dragging presents out for hours, with the just the right balance between foaming-at-the-mouth suspense and actually getting on with it 🙂

My boy’s only two so he’s only half getting what’s going on this year.

Always after Lunch in the Bouy household..

My childhood: wake at around 3am and creep down and break in to elaborately barricaded sitting room. Open one then lie awake in bed until 7ish when my sister awoke. A frenzy from there on. We didn’t have dinner – it was always lunch (sometimes late). No church.

Mrs North’s childhood: midnight communion on Christmas Eve. One present on return, then to bed and up for presents and smoked salmo on toast with bucks fizz for late breakfast. No Christmas lunch – round to a family member (done on strict rotation) for evening buffet.

We live near my in-laws. We get up with Toddler North whenever she wakes (c8.30 – she’s a sleeper) and open gifts with her, then eat and skype with my family. Now the in-laws are dying out, Christmas lunch has been invoked. It’s reasonably formal, and then continues into the evening.

But, suggesting that there have to be “rules” of any sort is insane – are you all parking wardens or something!

When I was a kid, pressies happened as soon as everybody was up and dressed. It was very difficult, as I am an only child – and therefore had no sibling to help me get everyone out of bed 🙁

Things are a little different now.

OH’s birthday is Christmas day (damned inconsiderate if you ask me…)
In the morning (or early afternoon, depending on hangover status – the OH is in a band and they always have a gig on Christmas Eve) it is strictly birthday time.
Then we go to see the OH’s children and deliver pressies.
Then we go to Mule Towers and have Christmas with Mr and Mrs Mule Senior, eat far too much, and drink all Father Mule’s malt whisky, before crawling to bed. Much to the bewilderment of the OH, who is only just getting used to the idea of having Christmas Day without the traditional “somebody kicks off and there ends up being a bloody great fight” 😀

I like Christmas.

As a kid back in the 70’s/early 80’s our xmas went largely like this :

Parents would stay up till 2am-3am wrapping my/our (brother was born in 1980) presents and having a drink/social gathering as various drunk folk my dad employed on his scallop/queenie boat staggered throughout the house shouting/swearing/laughing at the top of their lungs, things started to quieten down early in the morning as everyone staggered back home, my dad would creep into my room and hang my xmas stocking from santa on the fireplace and leave a few crumbs of shortbread and a chunk of ice from his fish hold on the hearth. I’d lie there trembling wi excitement under the covers till 6am and i’d bounce up and open everything in my rather large xmas stocking which to be honest was more of a 25kg queenie sack full of wee toys and selection boxes etc, this would keep me amused till 6.05am and i’d shout to my parents “I’m up…can i go downstairs?”, i never usually got a response as my parents were fast asleep so i’d shout at the top of my lungs “I’M UP CAN I GO DOWNSTAIRS”, this usually got a response but not the one i desired as i vividly remember them shouting back to me ” Go back to bed….It’s to bloody (they never said bloody but i’ve been told off for using fekin) early”, this carried on every 15mins as i gradually built myself up to such a state of excitement that i would be practically gnawing at my bedroom door like a dog and my parents would eventually give in about 7.30am – 8am and allow me to go downstairs but only to open the one present under the tree, i was heavily warned don’t touch anything else in the queenie sacks pilled up on the couch. Off i’d run down the stairs, slide to a halt on the shag pile carpet, burn hell out of my knees and hunt for the present under the tree – this was usually a one-person game or suchlike as my parents were clever and wily as they knew this would give them a good 15mins to make their way downstairs while i satisfied myself with playing wi the one xmas tree present. By the time they made their way downstairs i would be frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog and then the big present fest would start as i worked my way through opening the 2 or 3 queenie sacks of presents n’ games, toy’s, books etc…etc.. then we’d have a break for breakfast and i’d go back to my presents and play till we had our xmas lunch in the afternoon which was an amazing massive feast that went on for hours and hours as all my dads workers/wives and their kids used to come round and xmas was still being celebrated well into boxing day and beyond, utterly fantastic time that i look back on now as an adult and realise just how privileged i was and it could not have been any better, of course there was none of this going to church nonesense or owt like that 😉

Last xmas i hunted out the old xmas cine films of the carnage from the 70’s/early 80’s and i borrowed a projector and all i can say, is i was ashamed at the amount of presents i used to get, so was my brother 😳 – the entire living room used to be filled and there was so many folk in our house at all times but back then i guess my dad was only home 1 day a week (if that) as he was always away to sea and i always got loads of presents of my Gran n’ Granpa and my dads workmates as they did earn an obscene amount of money on the newly discovered scallop/queenie beds back then, even now, not adjusted for inflation or owt i guess it would be considered a decent wage to earn so i guess i could be considered spoilt, but i never was a spoilt brat as i was brought up to be worker at all times as i used to go sea for days at a time on my dads boat and sit in the wheelhouse in all weathers and more often than not throw up constantly into a bucket.

Halcyon days indeed 😀 and i realised my parents house was a 1970’s decored shag pile wonderland upon watching the home movies.

A few years ago we spent Christmas with the outlaws. Brother in law decided he was in charge. His plan was to get up late, have a leisurely breakfast, go to church, home for leisurely lunch and then open presents late afternoon. Had to tell him there was no way I was waiting until late afternoon to give Angus his new bike. We give our kids a few small presents at the bottom of their beds and open the rest after breakfast.

Completed approximately 17 seconds after waking which should be no later than 5.30am.

My family do stockings in the morning (as soon as you wake up) and presents in the afternoon after Christmas lunch (usually after the Queen). The SO and her family open everything in the morning.

Now we go with a vote so it depends on which side of the family has more members present or who is hosting Christmas Day.

As soon as kids wake up which last year was at about half four in the morning which was actually handy as I had work at eight . Still seems strange for me as when I lived in Norway and Germany we opened presents on the evening of Christmas eve

I bet no one gets as excited as me.

I have never slept on Christmas Eve since I was aware of Santa. Ever! My family routine is me laying awake waiting for the first child to rumble in bed enough for me to justify turning to my wife and asking if I can get everyone up. This is usually about 5-6am. We then listen out for the kids delights at their stockings and then head downstairs. I say head but really it’s a race I always win. Then, now that they are of an age to compete, it’s a free for all to open the presents. Only real rule is that everyone has to let everyone know who the present is from whilst opening and enjoy themselves.

Christmas is not a religious celebration for us, it’s a time for family to enjoy themselves. I spend the weeks before hand building the excitement so I expect excited kids on the day.

Once the prezzies are done my wife goes and makes some breakfast whilst I put batteries and open boxes in the new toys.

I loves Christmas I do

Starting on Christmas Day, we open 1 present a day, leaving the last till New Year’s Day. So starting the new year with a gift.

[/quote]Main presents are then opened throughout the day – no more than one each an hour – until about sixish Obviously church in the morning all stop for The Queen and dinner in the afternoon.

I’m more of less with Dogsby. Can’t believe the lack of discipline from some of you lot, I thought it was just my wife’s family but I see it’s much more prevalent than that… The first time I witnessed kids opening all their presents in one opening frenzy I was stunned, how anyone can argue that this is a process that benefits children is beyond me. They spend seconds on a gift barely pausing to say thank you before moving on. Awful and brings out the worst IMO.

We tiptoe downstairs to do the stockings but presents not till after breakfast and we spread them out all day making each present something to yearn for. I still love Christmas for this process alone, the day seems to last forever with a constant drip, drip of prezzies 😀

We even hold back presents from distant family or friends (those not present on the day) until Boxing Day. Ahhh, the constant anticipation, we all loved it and now our kids do to.

Opened as soon as kids wake up.
They do their stocking first, then downstairs for the main presents.
The result is kids are entertained all day and parents can get on with cooking and lounging.

No wonder religion is on the decline….some of the responses on here are surely designed to make kids hate sitting in a church.

I’m flying to Tokyo on Xmas day :-(( Sadly another normal working day for an airline pilot. I should get 2/3 Xmas’s off though.

When at home, it’s stockings in bed (Ooer missus!) then Bucks Fizz/ scrambled egg/smoked salmon for brekkie, and presents straight after.

HUGE EDIT….

“Big” present in the morning. i.e. kids main present from parents.
All others after lunch.

It’s great to suspend the excitement of pressie opening and makes the day doubly exciting.
Loved it as a kid, love it as an adult.

When i was a kid it was stocking presents and one tree present before church, then the rest once parents had made themselves a coffee.

For us as kids there was non of this delayed gratification. My mum worked nights in A&E and later in Intensive Care so she’d get home just after 8 on Christmas morning so presents happened between her getting home and going to bed. Once that was done while she was in bed the rest of us would put christmas dinner on so she’d wake up at 3 to a roast dinner.

Later on when I was 18ish we pulled a nice xmas stunt for her – earlier in the year my dad had gotten a big tax rebate, 6 years worth of over payments -enough to buy her a new car. In the run up to christmas we actually had it parked across the road and she had no idea. She went to work on christmas eve then a couple of hours later I drove there in the new car, took her car from the car park, replaced it with the new one, filled with balloons and flowers, then arranged with nurses from another ward to take her the new keys at the end of the shift

7.30 – downstairs for Santa’s presents – Adults drink coffee & grin inanely.

9am Breakfast

10am Bucks fizz & family presents to each other

Much playing with presents

Whenever it’s ready – Xmas dinner

Much playing with presents

Before it goes dark – walk it off

5pm Open other random presents left under the tree

6pm doze and general fug whilst presents are played with.

****important bit****
Boxing day – thank you letters to random aunts/uncles for bizarre gifts before you forget who gave you what.

Presents in the evening – pah! What’s the point of a day with no one at work and everyone together with all the cool new things to play with together still in their boxes? Rubbish idea!

Presents in the evening – pah! What’s the point of a day with no one at work and everyone together with all the cool new things to play with together still in their boxes? Rubbish idea!

Dunno when your Christmas Day ends but ours goes on well into the early hours – plenty of time for play.
Opening all presents in the morning? Rubbish! 😉

When I were a lad we had presents in the morning but only after my dad had lit the coal fire and made a cup of tea.

Opening all presents in the morning? Rubbish!

You know what they say about abused children being statistically more likely to go on and abuse children themselves….well you lot are proving that to be true 🙂

Kids usually wake between 5 and 6 and drag us out of bed/jump all over us. Presents are unwrapped after me and Mrs Gnusmas have had a cuppa, nothing before then, presents unwrapping usually done within an hour. We mix all the presents up so they have to look for their own ones and they open them after telling us who they are from.

Got the rest of the day to open the boxes and play with toys so definitely a morning thing here 🙂

Wake.

Coffee.

Presents.

wake
bekkie
small pressies.

Roll forward to the end of Jan for any ‘main’ presents…. trying to not spend too much right now as house sale / purchase goes through.

For families with kids:

Stockings upon waking,
Pressies after breakfast

For adult families:

Drinks/snacks before lunch
Lunch
Pressies with Champagne
Turn tv over when Queen comes on

Up, walk the hound, showers etc…. Rendezvous downstairs with Champers around 10 with mentally excited dog. Unwrapping commences and is normally sorted by 11ish. Then starts my birthday pressies 🙂
The afternoon often consists of hunting for small gifts that the dog has hidden, but I am usually pissed so don’t really care.
Afternoon present openings = bad times.